Third attempted abduction outside school

DEAN KOZANIC/The Press

ATTEMPTED ABDUCTION: pupils and parents of Christchurch's Paparoa Street School have been warned after a third child was approached by strangers near the school.

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Security has been increased around a primary school in an affluent Christchurch neighbourhood after it suffered its third attempted child abduction this year.

In the latest attempt, a six-year-old boy escaped from a woman who attempted to lure him into her car while he was waiting outside Paparoa Street School, St Albans, on Friday, July 27.

Police said the fact the abductor was female was unusual, although they cautioned that the person may have been a transvestite.

Police have directed patrol cars to keep an eye on the area when the children are released from school.

The six-year-old's father, who declined to be named, said his son had been approached by the mystery female about 3.20pm outside the school gates.

The father said the woman had tried to entice his son into her grey car by offering him a lolly.

"Most of the schoolchildren had left by then and my wife had arranged to pick up our son that day, but somehow they had got the meeting place mixed up," the father said.

"Luckily for us, my son had enough sense to speed off on his scooter and tell a parent who was walking nearby.

"We were so grateful the parent was there to help him," he said.

The father said the incident had left his son "highly emotional" and a bit shaken.

In a similar incident on May 29, a boy had been waiting outside the gates of the school when a man had invited him to hop into his small silver vehicle.

Although the boy had been scared, he managed to escape by running straight to the school office to inform someone.

An attempt was made by a mystery man to entice a nine-year-old schoolgirl into his grey van on February 17. This incident happened as the girl was walking along Innes Road from Browns Road, which is also close to Paparoa Street School.

The school confirmed it had reported the latest incident to the police.

Senior Constable Rod Fraser said the case was "disturbing".

The police did not have any strong leads.

"We haven't got any real avenues to chase as we have very little to go on," Fraser said. Because of this the file was on hold.

He said that if the six-year-old had seen a female, then the police were faced with a "different scale" of offending.

"If it was a woman that had tried to entice the boy into the car last month it would be something which we're not used to dealing with," he said.

Papanui CIB chief Detective Sergeant Dorothy McPhail said a female attempting a kidnapping was "unusual".

"But we need to consider it could have been a transvestite. The person was only seen by the boy and an adult would have had more chance of seeing if the person was transsexual."

Fraser said he did not believe the three incidents were connected, despite all three victims describing each vehicle as being either grey or silver.

"I don't think they are connected – but I guess you never really know."

Paparoa Street School has been stressing the stranger-danger message following the earlier incidents.

The school has also suggested parents work out an action plan with their children so they knew what to do if they faced a similar situation.

Parents picking up their children from Paparoa Street School yesterday praised the school's response to the abduction attempts.

- © Fairfax NZ News